With the increasingly frequent number of organized protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline (#NoDAPL) taking place across the nation, the number of outspoken protesters adopting the cause and taking it to the streets, online, and/or to North Dakota has similarly multiplied. Among this steadily swelling number of protesters, that culminated earlier this week with a national day of action at 300 different protests across the US, many are musicians. Hailing from varied genres and generations these include such artists as Neil Young, A Tribe Called Red, Equipto, Joan Baez, Trevor Hall, Michael Franti, Chill E.B., Buffy Saint Marie, Wheelchair Sports Camp, Indigo Girls, Dregs One, The Zotigh Singers, Raye Zaragoza, Jackson Browne, and DJ Troubleman. These are musicians who've either protested and or recorded protest music against the controversial pipeline. One high profile protester who could be added to this musician's list, considering that three decades ago he recorded a protest folk album, is Vermont senator Bernie Sanders who made a surprise appearance and speech in Washington DC during this week's (Nov 15th) national day of action.

NYSOM #98 of 100: Since Fall or Autumn officially arrived a couple of days ago here in New York City (and you can feel it in the air especially with chilly cold evenings this past days) Billie Holiday's classic "Autumn In New York" comes to mind. Hear the song, that is found on such collections as The Best of Billie Holiday, above in homemade slide show video of NYC over the decades. Speaking of weather and NYC the big event here over the past weekend was the huge Climate Change March that attracted (depending on which news source you can believe) anywhere from a quarter of a million to 450,000 participants. The big march included numerous well known actors and musicians including the Bay Area's Michael Franti of Spearhead - seen in photo left that also includes movie stars Edward Norton and a barely recognizable bearded Leonardo DiCaprio. That was Sunday but the following day's Flood Wall Street protest down on Wall Street (also in the lead up to the UN Climate Summit 2014 that began yesterday here in New York), which drew much fewer protestors, had more arrests numbering about a hundred when more vigilant protestors gathered to voice opposition to the corporations who aren't investing in green initiatives.

6) Buckshot The Common Knowledgy of The Entertainment Industry (Duck Down Music)

Thanks to Luis at Amoeba San Francisco for this week's Top Six, which includes five new hip-hop albums and one new hip-hop book/CD package. That unique combo is The Common Knowledgy of The Entertainment Industry -- the neatly packaged, well presented, and most informative 80-page book with CD by Buckshot of legendary Brooklyn hip-hop group Black Moon / founder of Duck Down Records fame -- that was among the new releases showcased here on the Amoeblog Hip-Hop Rap Up a few weeks ago.

Number four this week on the chart is the brand new, long overdue (supposed to drop six months ago) latest offering from Slaughterhouse, the four-member rap supergroup comprised of Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, & Royce da 5' 9," who have been tipped to be signing with Eminem's Shady Records ever since they made a cameo in Em's "Forever" music video.

4) FabolousThere Is No Competition 2: The Grieving Music Mixtape (Def Jam)

5) MadlibMadlib Medicine Show #8: Advanced Jazz (Stones Throw)

Thanks to Michael at the Hollywood Amoeba Music for this week's hip-hop top five chart, which includes new releases from both Fabolous and Nate Dogg. Well, technically Nate Dogg's CD is a new release but it is actually all classic material from the Long Beach, CA legend who suffered a stroke three years ago. In his prime the singing/rapping Nate Dogg was kind of like the T-Pain of his day and this dozen track collection features most (but not all) of his G-Funk era classics. Included in this guest-heavy collection are "Friends (feat. Snoop Dogg & Warren G.)," "Bag O' Weed (feat. Tray Deee)," "Me & My Homies (feat. 2Pac & Nancy Fletcher)," "Sexy Girl (feat. Big Syke)," and "First We Pray (feat. Kurupt)." Def worth copping if you don't already have the 1998 2CD Nate Dogg release G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 & 2.

Not too surprisingly, the anticipated, brand new, star-studded Jay-Z album The Blueprint 3, (aka TB3), which originally was scheduled to come out last year, is this week's number one release on the new hip-hop chart at Amoeba Music. The album features a slew of guest collaborators, including Young Jeezy, Kanye West (in producer mode mainly), Rihanna,Drake, Kid Cudi, Mr Hudson, Swizz Beatz, Pharrell and Alicia Keys, and is the final release in the Blueprint trilogy that began exactly eight years ago on September 11th, 2001 -- the day the Twin Towers were attacked. In fact, that was why initially Jay-Z had scheduled the release of TB3 for today (Friday, September 11th), but then he changed his mind at the last minute, reverting to the typical Tuesday date release. The fifteen track TB3 is the artist's 11th studio album and his first on his own new label Roc Nation.